Utah’s latest loss a microcosm of the competitive challenge Alex Jensen faces his first year in Big 12

Utes blow 5-point lead in last 2 minutes in falling at Cincinnati.

Six ejected after fight forces 20-minute delay in St John’s-Providence basketball game

Police enter court amid fracas sparked by hard foul Coach Rick Pitino holds back players as tempers flare Six players were ejected from Saturday’s college basketball game between No. 17 St John’s and Providence after a fracas resulting from a hard foul by Friars forward Duncan Powell on Bryce Hopkins sent the Red Storm star crashing to the ground. St John’s coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, was in the middle of it, trying to hold back his players. But several entered the fray as it drifted toward the Red Storm’s visitors’ bench. The game was delayed by nearly 20 minutes while the referees sorted out the punishments: four St John’s players were booted and two from Providence, and by the time the Friars got the ball back they had watched a one-point lead turn into a four-point deficit. “You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” Pitino said after the 79-69 victory gave the Red Storm its 11th straight win. “You can’t fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can’t fight any more, so toughness has to come between the lines.” Continue reading...

By Associated Press